Volkswagen gets immersive (and shoppable) on Snapchat

An AR campaign was created for the redesigned 2019 Jetta in order to capture a younger audience.

Volkswagen Canada partnered with Snapchat to launch a new automotive campaign that incorporates augmented reality and the option to go directly to its Jetta website to build and price.

The campaign, led by Touché, centres around Volkswagen’s redesigned 2019 Jetta, using the social platform’s shoppable AR Lens Attachment, which launched in April of this year. According to Volkswagen, it’s the first shoppable AR automotive campaign in Canada.

The buy also includes Snap Ads running throughout the month of September.

According to Ben Song, supervisor of digital investment at Touché, the goal of the campaign is to give customers – especially millennials – a closer look at the Jetta, using the AR Lens to give access to both interior and exterior views of the car.

“Especially for Jetta, which has a younger audience, we wanted people to be able to interact in a different way,” Song told MiC. “It’s a very 360, digital experience.”

Other features give users the option to choose which colour vehicle they want to experience, view pricing and book a test drive – without stepping foot in a dealership.

According to Song, the campaign also marks the first time Volkswagen is using fully immersive AR on Snapchat to highlight both the exterior and the interior of a vehicle.

Volkswagen isn’t the first automotive company exploring AR. Earlier this week, Mitsubishi Motors Canada announced its own AR app. Created by St. Joseph Communications, the app uses the technology to showcase vehicle features and drive sales of its 2018 Outlander PHEV.